Some of the PGA Tour’s key decision makers got to put a name with a face last week when they met with the head of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
In a memo to tour membership after the meeting in the Bahamas, commissioner Jay Monahan called the session “constructive” and described it as “an important part of our due diligence process in selecting potential investors for PGA Tour Enterprises.”
According to a report by Ron Green for GGP+ that cited the memo, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who heads Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, shared his vision and goals with a group that included Tiger Woods and the five other player directors on the tour’s Policy Board.
“It felt like it was the next right thing,” Webb Simpson, a player director, told Sports Illustrated’s Bob Harig last week at the Valspar Championship. Added Peter Malnati, another player director, in describing the session with Al-Rumayyan: “A path forward for professional golf makes more sense with him on our side than him as an antagonist. But there’s a lot of work to do.”
The meeting came nine months after the stunning “framework agreement” on June 6 when Monahan and Al-Rumayyan disclosed on CNBC that they would come to terms by the end of 2023 and stop the acrimony at the top of the professional game. That self-imposed deadline was blown.
The oil-rich PIF, reportedly worth more than $700 billion, has made bold moves into a number of professional sports in recent years, including the financing of rival tour LIV Golf.
Earlier this year, the PGA Tour announced that Strategic Sports Group will invest up to $3 billion in PGA Tour Enterprises, a new for-profit business that will operate outside of the tax-exempt PGA Tour. READ MORE
Tiger Woods intends to return to competition in two weeks at the Masters, as expected, according to the updated field list at Masters.com. However, another former Masters champion will not be entered, Golfweek’s Adam Schupak reported.
Ángel Cabrera, who was paroled last year in his native Argentina after having served 24 months on two domestic-violence incidents involving former girlfriends, was denied a visa to enter the United States, his agent said. Cabrera, the 2009 Masters champion, has not competed at Augusta National since 2019. He is listed on Masters.com under the heading “past champions not playing.”
Woods, 48, a five-time Masters champion, has made the cut in 23 consecutive starts at Augusta National, tying Fred Couples and Gary Player for the most all-time. In his only start this season, Woods withdrew after six holes of his second round of the Genesis Invitational with what he later said was the flu. In his previous start, he withdrew after three rounds of the 2023 Masters, complaining of plantar fasciitis in his surgically repaired right foot, which was mangled in a 2021 single-vehicle rollover crash. READ MORE
American Scottie Scheffler solidified his Olympics debut with his recent victory at the Players Championship and firm hold on the top of the world ranking, and countryman Xander Schauffele, the Players co-runner-up and gold medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Games, also appears to be a lock for the Paris Games this summer.
World No. 1 Scheffler, No. 4 Wyndham Clark, No. 5 Schauffele and No. 7 Patrick Cantlay would form the American team, according to the Official World Golf Ranking. No. 8 Brian Harman and No. 10 Max Homa also are contending. The team will be set based on the OWGR after the U.S. Open, which ends June 16 and completes the two-year rolling window for the Olympic rankings.
On the women’s side, Americans Lilia Vu and Nelly Korda rank Nos. 1-2, respectively, and Céline Boutier from the host nation is third.
The field for the Olympics will feature 60 male and 60 female players, with the men competing August 1-4 followed by the women on August 8-11 at Le Golf National in Guyancourt, France. The qualification system limits a maximum of four players from any nation, provided that they are ranked among the top 15 in the world. READ MORE
The Summer Olympics could include team golf for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, Associated Press golf writer Doug Ferguson reported, citing an unidentified source close to the discussions. After glowing reviews from the PGA Tour and LPGA players in December at the mixed-team Grant Thornton Invitational, the topic has gained momentum. An announcement could come at the Masters in two weeks, according to the report. READ MORE
England’s Paul Casey, playing in his first DP World Tour event in more than two years after bolting for LIV Golf, finished sixth at the Porsche Singapore Classic on Sunday in Singapore.
Casey, 46, a 15-time winner on the DP World Tour and a five-time European Ryder Cup player, posted four consecutive under-par rounds while competing on a sponsor exemption at Laguna National Golf Resort Club. He finished three shots behind Sweden’s Jesper Svensson, who edged Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat on the third hole of a playoff.
Casey, who had plummeted to No. 832 in the Official World Golf Ranking, was making only his fifth start in a tournament that receives ranking points since defecting to LIV in mid-2022 and relinquishing his DP World Tour membership. READ MORE
TAP-INS
So Yeon Ryu, whose six LPGA victories include two major championships, announced in a handwritten note on Instagram that she will retire after next month’s Chevron Championship. Ryu, 33, of South Korea, broke through as a 21-year-old winner of the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open at the Broadmoor in Colorado and was named the LPGA’s top rookie in 2012. She was named the 2017 LPGA Player of the Year after winning the ANA Inspiration, forerunner to today’s Chevron event, and spent 19 weeks in late 2019 ranked No. 1 in the world. She added 12 other titles on major professional tours: 10 on the Korean LPGA, one in Japan and one in Europe. READ MORE
Viewership of the Players Championship final round Sunday, March 17 on NBC dropped 16 percent from a year ago, despite world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler’s come-from-behind victory, SportsMediaWatch.com reported. Ratings for all four tournament rounds reportedly were off compared with 2023. According to Austin Karp’s analysis for Sports Business Journal, the final-round audience in 2024 was the smallest since 2014, when Martin Kaymer won the Players title. READ MORE and MORE
Mississaugua Golf and Country Club will host the LPGA’s 2025 CPKC Women’s Open, Golf Canada announced. The tournament will be played August 21-24 as the 51st edition of Canada’s national open makes its debut at Mississaugua in Ontario. READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon